Macular degeneration

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

I want to send this out to everyone here at   Red square that everyone should know about this. To all of us who stare at our phones or computers and even have LED technology that the blue light we are watching on these devices are screwing up our eyes. I just had my prescription for my eyeglasses today and found out that I have macular generation.  Today at  lensCrafters the lady I’ve dealt with for the past 18 years just told me today this ! They are still working on a cure for this but there is no cure. Hopefully there is some treatments to slow down this issue. BE WARE!

[Pullstart 62,787]

My wife and her mother both suffer from this.  I’m sure some day they will nearly lose their sight, or actually lose it.  I too wish there was a cure, but on the bright side maybe she only sees one  if I haul two home!

[Achto 27,502]

14 minutes ago, pullstart said:

but on the bright side maybe she only sees one  if I haul two home!

[Sarge 3,463]

I have something similar - but this disease actually causes the orbits (eye) to elongate and distort its shape so far that it will eventually cause blindness. Coke bottle glasses - no, I'm well past that point and can never have enough light to see things. Macular degeneration can be treated - get yourself to a proper neuro-ophthalmologist (referral required) as they can handle this far better than most eye doctors. These type of specialists deal with not only the eyes but also the brain and will have the testing equipment necessary to find a root cause. I went through 4 Ophthalmologists before I was referred out to Iowa City to the college medical research center - Dr. Kardon is the leading expert in eye/brain problems and is the guy responsible for designing the tests and equipment necessary to figure out what is going on with human eyesight problems. None of the previous doctors could figure out why I have blind spots that can move around, the lack of true light transmission, migraines and an inability to focus at certain distances. I went through 6hrs of testing at the eye center out there - left with a headache and a diagnosis for a disease that cannot be cured other than transplants when the lights finally go out. It took 4 doctors and almost $5,000 of co-pays from my insurance to get this figured out and stop the cycle of having to get new glasses constantly - and here I thought the eye centers were just getting the prescriptions wrong. I've worn the same pair of bifocals now for over a year - my vision is still quite accurate and I've had a lot fewer headaches, thankfully. Due to the crazy curvature needed to correct the deformation of the orbits, this last pair cost me $900 - hoping I don't have to replace those nearly as often.

 

There are display settings on nearly every electronic device that is a smart system to eliminate or at least filter blue light - that is the first setting I go after when buying a new phone or computer. Computers can be a bit more difficult to deal with but if I remember right there are films that can be applied to the screen to minimize the intensity of the blue light bands. Same goes with TV screens - especially the newer, brighter and more powerful LED big screen sets. The one I really hate is vehicles that have blue variations in their gauges or displays - the manufacturers need to stop that. Driving at night, even with the gauges dimmed way down is very damaging to your eyes with any sort of blue colors shining back at your night vision. I see now some of the newer vehicles have displays that can be changed in their setup menu to other colors - take a look through there if you have something made after 2012 with an electronic display.  Also, if you wear sunglasses stay away from certain coloring bands - they can also cause damage.

 

Sarge

[The Tuul Crib 7,336]

7 hours ago, Sarge said:

I have something similar - but this disease actually causes the orbits (eye) to elongate and distort its shape so far that it will eventually cause blindness. Coke bottle glasses - no, I'm well past that point and can never have enough light to see things. Macular degeneration can be treated - get yourself to a proper neuro-ophthalmologist (referral required) as they can handle this far better than most eye doctors. These type of specialists deal with not only the eyes but also the brain and will have the testing equipment necessary to find a root cause. I went through 4 Ophthalmologists before I was referred out to Iowa City to the college medical research center - Dr. Kardon is the leading expert in eye/brain problems and is the guy responsible for designing the tests and equipment necessary to figure out what is going on with human eyesight problems. None of the previous doctors could figure out why I have blind spots that can move around, the lack of true light transmission, migraines and an inability to focus at certain distances. I went through 6hrs of testing at the eye center out there - left with a headache and a diagnosis for a disease that cannot be cured other than transplants when the lights finally go out. It took 4 doctors and almost $5,000 of co-pays from my insurance to get this figured out and stop the cycle of having to get new glasses constantly - and here I thought the eye centers were just getting the prescriptions wrong. I've worn the same pair of bifocals now for over a year - my vision is still quite accurate and I've had a lot fewer headaches, thankfully. Due to the crazy curvature needed to correct the deformation of the orbits, this last pair cost me $900 - hoping I don't have to replace those nearly as often.

 

There are display settings on nearly every electronic device that is a smart system to eliminate or at least filter blue light - that is the first setting I go after when buying a new phone or computer. Computers can be a bit more difficult to deal with but if I remember right there are films that can be applied to the screen to minimize the intensity of the blue light bands. Same goes with TV screens - especially the newer, brighter and more powerful LED big screen sets. The one I really hate is vehicles that have blue variations in their gauges or displays - the manufacturers need to stop that. Driving at night, even with the gauges dimmed way down is very damaging to your eyes with any sort of blue colors shining back at your night vision. I see now some of the newer vehicles have displays that can be changed in their setup menu to other colors - take a look through there if you have something made after 2012 with an electronic display.  Also, if you wear sunglasses stay away from certain coloring bands - they can also cause damage.

 

Sarge

Thanx sarge for this info . You went to my home town of Iowa city!! Great facilities there! I will be probably going to Vanderbilt here for more treatment ideas to see what my options are. 

[Sarge 3,463]

If you can get a referral to go see Dr. Kardon in Iowa City - it would be worth the trip for sure. The college research centers across the country generally have far newer equipment and keep up with the latest treatments since that is where they are developed - regular hospitals are almost always at least a few years behind in comparison. Not to mention - tests and appointments at those centers are far less expensive than any hospital group. My co-pays for that visit to Iowa City were 1/10th of the cost versus the last major hospital group previously. 

 

Sarge